Cutting the Finboxes - 4/5/2020

Since I was in the garage, I went ahead and did the final measuring for the asymmetric fish fin boxes and called it good (I could easily get wrapped up into an OCD fueled continuous "do-loop")

I cut my boxes out and used the run as an example for Marlon to follow.

I think this came out spot on - looks like speed and torque had a love child!

Marlon cut his out - with the only issue being the center box falling on a stringer (so I helped out a little here).

Next step is preparing the fabrics and laminating.

Next Step - Finboxes

Probably the most critical of tasks in building a surfboard is determining the fin placement.

I'm still researching this, but I'm hoping to converge later this week on a decision so I can get the boxes cut out and at least the bottom laminated before next week.

Electric Planer Training

With the templates cut out, it's time to skin the blanks and trim up some of the excess foam.  Marlon wanted to be to sole shaper on his board so to get past this set, I trained him to use the electric planer.  This tool can be unsettling the first time you use it - so we worked on an offcut from the new 4'10" I'm shaping.

I was able to skin both of my blanks, rough in the foil and then work the chines and rail bands on the foil board.

Tomorrow I'll work on the rails again.

Tweaking the Asymmetric Fish

And since I was working in the garage, I felt compelled to dial in the template of the asymmetric fish I'm making.

Here is the nose.

And here is the tail.  I think it looks great now.  It came out at 5'10" and change.  It is fairly wide, but I'm going to have to make it thick so I can ride this thing.

I'll post more pictures of the cut board when there is a sunny day.  Next step is to skin the blank and get the bottom rocker faired in.  I'll show Marlon how to use the planer at the same time.

Sunday Garage Works

I took a break from the surf on Sunday in favor of BBQing and getting some other projects knocked out.  I got the prone foilboard templates cut out and sanded.

And then I proceeded to get the blank(s) templated and cut out.

Also went to our friendly neighborhood Lowes and grabbed a bunch of lumber to make some plant benches La has been asking for.  I'll also build a new shaping rack (to shape these short foil boards).

As I am writing this entry on Sunday, Marlon and I did go on a dawn patrol this morning - 1.7' tide with a chest high swell pushing in - good fun!!!  I had several long rides - one was tracking along with a wave standing up and just about to pitch a lip.  Another with banking turns back and forth between sections.  A couple of waves I popped up but my feet didn't feel like they were in the right place - I rode out the wave anyways and just compensated with weight shifts.  At the risk of sounding cocky - this is second nature now.  I even had a few green water takeoffs - steeper than I prefer, but too much fun!

Catch Up Posts - Tuesday Template Making

I need to get these templates transferred and trimmed.  Primarily to clean up the garage again, but equally to get the new blank cut up.

Trying to maximize the usage of the 4x8 sheet - in some cases I'm making full length half templates as well as spin templates from the same paper template.

Going to get a wide 4'6" and a stubby 4'10" out of this blank.  Both will have tapered rear rails and tails.  This is a difference from the first two boards - and is in direct response to getting bogged down after the aft portions of the boards contacted the water.  Not sure how dramatic I'll make the back end chamfers, but we'll see together over the next several weeks.

Marlon's Longboard Finally Finished

Besides mowing the lawn, I spent the majority of today finishing Marlon's longboard.  Lots of painting, marking, applying acrylic and fine tuning the boxes (still need to work on the middle one - too tight).

I like how the stencil logo came out.

We got the board out to the beach in the really late afternoon - Marlon got plenty of rides and from what I saw, he was not stalling as much as he would when using La's board.

We didn't take out the GoPro, but I did stop to watch him on his first wave - looks like a fun board!

Also - I took out the Slingshot Infinity 76.  I made the mistake of leaving the foil pushed all the way to the rear of the tracks.  I was anticipating a bigger swell, but I should have paid attention to my previous notes on using this foil - an inch or so up from the back of the tracks and the foil will pop up easy.  All the way back like today and I'm having to get my weigh back to pop the foil up, but it requires a lot more effort to keep the foil balanced.  I need to remember this...

And lastly, I took some hits from the foil - tail hit me in the gut on a wipeout, and the main wing hit my ankle.  Even with the setbacks, I did get some decent rides.

Sunday Fin Setting

Marlon and I set the fins in place on his longboard yesterday.

The side bites are in perfectly.

The center box had an issue - I forgot to use the plunge setting and as a result there were two excessive cuts.  If we weren't going to paint the finished board, I would probably try and fix these.  Oh well - we're painting the board so no issue.

Now I just have to find time to glass this board (uuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhhh).

Finished Shaping Marlon's Longboard

Small surf this morning - so we decided to use the time to finish shaping Marlon's longboard.  Used the planer to cut in the rail bands, and a surform to blend to top to the rails.

We broke out the dragon skin and sanding screens to dial in the rails, and then sanded the decks.  When we were done sanding, we broke out the random orbital sander and carved in the nose spoon.  We actually made it pretty deep, so Marlon should have the ability to park up front and eat a few ham sandwiches.  La bought me some Dapp's Lightweight and I closed up all the shaping mistakes.  THis thing is ready to glass (for tomorrow).

Starting Marlon's Longboard

Pretty timely as he accidently dinged the longboard he was using (I can fix that).  He did not want to make a mistake on this board so he asked me to do the first couple of steps - using the jigsaw to cut out the template and use the planer to skin the board top and bottom.  Yesterday before heading out to get him to a penguin suit concert, I was able to make a couple of adjustments to the shaping racks (still need to make another adjustment -

that is another post) and get the template cut out.

I'm happy with how the trimming turned out.  Cuts smooth as butter!

Marlon's Longboard

We got Marlon and blank and some fin boxes for Christmas and we are getting ready to shape it.  This weekend we got the template put together and transferred it to the blank (pictures on this to come - too late this evening to take pictures).

Hurricane Lane Preparations

We spent the last few days preparing the house for Hurricane Lane's arrival.  Moving plants, securing objects in the yard and ensuring pieces and parts of the house stay put are among some of the things we've been doing.  But in order to get the larger plants sheltered (in the bed of the Ridgeline, with the Ridgeline in the garage), I had to clear the workstation I set up to get the hydrofoil built.  In order to get the rest of the space cleared, I actually had to cut the blank in half.

I laid out the templates to confirm a good fit on both.  Pray that Hurricane Lane has minimal impact to the visitors and kamaaina of Hawaii... we'll see you on the other side of this storm.